‘Joyously Free’ and ‘Healing Religious Hurts’ from Two Sisters Writing and Publishing offer support to LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies
By Debora Gordon for Ashland.news
Ashland-based Two Sisters Writing & Publishing has published two new books addressing how to live your best life and ways to overcome harms from religious and other life experiences.
The two books, “Joyously Free,” published in June, and “Healing Religious Hurts,” published in October, were both coauthored by Elizabeth Ann Atkins and Joanie Lindenmeyer.
“Joyously Free” provides “stories and tips to live your truth as LGBTQ+ people, parents and allies” and “Healing Religious Hurts” offers “stories and tips to find love and peace.”
Atkins, a writing coach since 2005 and a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism, described her goals as “to help writers to tell their stories with clarity and precision.”
Lindenmeyer said she appreciated that “Elizabeth was available when I asked for help, wisdom and expertise. I just kept trying to do what the coach said. Our authors are all across America, so we’ve been using Zoom since before the pandemic.”
Meeting both in person and on Zoom, as needed, Atkins helped guide Lindenmeyer through her writing her story. “What I learned was: ‘Don’t tell your story, describe your story.’ Use the five senses and your intuition. Look at your sentences for smell, sights, sounds, feelings.”
With Atkins’ coaching, Lindenmeyer’s first book, “Nun Better: An Amazing Love Story,” was written in five months.
Lindenmeyer said that “with these key points, it rolled off my brain, heart and fingers. I learned ‘Don’t tell your story, describe your story.’ Thank God for Elizabeth being very clear. She talked about using the five senses plus intuition.”
Lindenmeyer said she sorted through 40 years of pictures which led to the outline which led to the book.
“Joyously Free” is described by Atkins as “a self-help book that helps queer people, their allies to have resources and insights to help them.”
“Healing Religious Hurts,” she said, is “a self-help for people to make their own connections to spirit, God, whatever their beliefs are.
“Both works have a focus on providing guidance and suggestions as “self-help books that help queer people to make their own connections.
“They don’t have to seek permission,” she said. “They all can have a clear connection that religion is supposed to provide.”
Lindenmeyer adds that people may need help “because they’ve been hurt, traumatized, emotionally, physically, spiritually damaged. In summary, it has to do with the 3 C’s: courage, confidence and collaboration.”
Lindenmeyer left her original house of worship, she said. “I belong to the Episcopal Church and I chose that church over the Catholic church because same-sex marriages are celebrated, women can become deacons, priests and bishops and the laity has a voice.”
She has received support from her church. “My minister called me the other day and said this book, ‘Healing Religious Hurts,’ will be bigger than ‘Nun Better.’ He said, ‘It’s the right time and place and people need to read it to be healed.'”
Atkins is not a member of a church. “I’m spiritual, not religious, I don’t belong to a church,” she said, “but I have a hotline to God, Jesus, angels, and spirit. I’m totally tapped in.”
She said people relate to the message of the two books. “As soon as you say, “healing religious hurts,” everybody is like, ‘I went to Catholic school and it scarred me for life,’ she said. “Every person we encounter, they have a story. … The title resonates, but they’re like: ‘I need this.'”
She said, “God is bigger than church, and love always wins! Everyone should do themselves, no matter how they were groomed. There is sexism in religion. Patriarchy and hypocrisy. We don’t care. We’re telling everyday people, ‘Find your own way.’”
The response to “Joyously Free” has been overwhelmingly supportive, Lindenmeyer said. “I’m flooded with positive comments, especially from parents and grandparents loving this book. Because it gives them clarification on their gay/queer loved ones. I have received quite a few compliments from those who have not yet come out. They appreciated reading the stories of coming out. It has given them confidence and courage to come out in their way.”
Atkins said, “Everyone has a story. There is a common theme in both books, for individuals to put themselves first in terms of who they are. They get to decide who they are; gay, trans, ally, even if they were baptized Catholic. It’s about individuals taking actions to blaze their own trails. Once you do that with these fundamental things, it empowers you in every area. We’ll use them as guide books, especially, sensitivity. One thing I like to say is the Gandhi quote, be or write the change you wish to see.”
Atkins said everyone can write a book.
“I coached Joanie from a phys ed teacher and former Catholic nun to writing a bestselling book, and now the others hopefully will be bestsellers too. But the message is if she can do it, anybody can do it, and I guide people to do it in a fun way.
“We do a “How to Write a Book” podcast every Friday, where we talk about writing and publishing. We’re telling everyday people it’s their time to find their own way, and they can do that through meditation and reflective questions in the book,” Atkins said of the two books.
And, Atkins said, “We want people to read the books. They’re life-changing.”
Debora Gordon is a writer, artist, educator and nonviolence activist who recently moved to Ashland from Oakland, California. Email her at [email protected].
